The Origin Warden

chapter 11 : the ability

When the cabinet collided with his hand or rather with that aura covering his hand something happened that made Jack open his mouth with a stunned expression.

That area of the cabinet twisted, looking as though it was collapsing into a single point under the effect of an invisible force, before cracks spread through the wooden cabinet like a spider web.

Jack felt something faint moving randomly through his body, then it seemed to find an outlet and began moving toward his hand feeding that aura which was clearly a manifestation of his ability. Distortion!.

This phenomenon lasted only for a single second before the cabinet’s weight pressed down on Jack and caused him to lose focus.

Sylvie and her children did not see what happened other than the fact that Jack saved them.

“What happened?”

Jack pushed the cabinet upward and returned it to its previous place then shrugged with a frown and confusion.

“I have no idea but it’s better if we leave this place”

“No, no. I can’t leave, I have to wait for him here”

“Ma’am I don’t know who this person is that you want to wait for but I don’t think he’ll be happy if he finds only corpses. Whatever caused that explosion is extremely close to this place. If that monster is behind it then I doubt it forgot about us, so let’s use this noise to sneak outside. We can go to the apartment building in the back street”

Jack did not wait for Sylvie’s approval. He stood up with difficulty. Fortunately he did not feel pain in his leg otherwise it would have been troublesome for him.

He bent down and grabbed a chest protector and a plastic helmet then threw them toward Gina who caught them and began wearing them while ignoring the conflicted expression on her mother’s face.

Jacob grabbed another protector then was about to dismiss his armor when another idea crossed his mind. Instead of removing the entire armor he thought of dismissing only the upper part.

' It actually worked, thank you system for all these conveniences, and by the way I succeeded in understanding my ability and activating it ah even if it was unconsciously '

He patted the black chest protector that fit his body perfectly, then restored the upper part of the armor as another layer of protection.

' No harm in a second layer of protection '

He grabbed another chest protector then walked toward the child and the teenager. Kneeling on one knee, he placed a gentle smile on his face while staring at the child with thick black hair covering his tearful features. Even while crying the poor child refused to make a sound.

“Lucas right?, here wear this”

He dressed him with the protector which resembled a vest more than an actual chest protector. Lucas’s height did not even exceed one meter.

“I know, I know uncomfortable right?, but safety first”

Jack patted Lucas’s hair then stood up and spoke while staring at Sylvie who had finally made her decision. She was currently wearing a chest protector and a sturdy plastic helmet, perhaps bulletproof perhaps not. She was helping Gina fasten her helmet.

He pointed toward the weapon in her hands.

“Ahemm. Ma’am. I need a weapon”

Sylvie frowned and stared at him suspiciously, at his outstretched hand. She hesitated for a moment but the sounds outside forced her to give in.

She sighed and said,

“Hmm. Fine...”

She pointed toward the corner where there was a white cloth bag striped with red and blue. It was filled with official police uniforms then added.

“There, I put them inside the clothes down at the bottom”

Jack did not care about the reason that might have driven Sylvie to place firearms inside police uniforms. He lifted the bag easily then shook it upside down and emptied its contents onto the floor.

He bent down and grabbed a pair of pants with the handle of a pistol sticking out from it. He held the pistol in both hands tightly and felt the rough texture of the gun’s body behind his glove.

' It’s actually the first time I’ve seen one in real life, it’s heavier than I imagined... '

Unfortunately he did not have time to admire his new toy. The sound of intense gunfire mixed with roaring screams entered his ears making the hair on Jack’s body stand up. Whatever the thing outside fighting humans was, Jack did not want to see it.

He bent down and began searching for more weapons among the clothes while complaining in his mind about Sylvie making the matter difficult by hiding the weapons inside the clothes.

After placing a helmet on her little son despite it being larger than his small head, she stood up and stared at the man who had worn a belt with a pistol on his left hip and another on his right while three full bullet magazines rested in the middle pouches.

In his right hand he carried another pistol and looked like a child discovering a new toy. She sighed and asked in a tired tone,

“Hey you!... Jacob, tell me do you know how to use that?”

' Damn!. It looked easy in those videos '

When he heard Sylvie’s question and saw the frown on her face, he smiled awkwardly and said while scratching the back of his head,

“Well, I did military service but because of some circumstances I had to withdraw before I could learn how to use one. I watched videos and documentaries about weapons, umm, the answer is no, I don’t know how to use a gun”

“Seriously you’re an adult man and you don’t know how to use a weapon!” Sylvie muttered seeming disappointed in him.

' Woman!, what exactly are you staring at!, how exactly is knowing how to use a weapon connected to adulthood and masculinity!? '

Jack complained bitterly in his mind but maintained an expression saying : I’m sorry to disappoint you.

Sylvie sighed then raised the pistol in her hand and approached Jack.

“We don’t have time for me to teach you everything, I’ll just explain the basics...”

“Pay close attention...”

Jack nodded and stared at Sylvie’s hand holding the weapon while listening to her words with such concentration that if he had used it on his studies in the past he would be president of a country by now!.

Gina who had her hands inside Lucas’s helmet covering his ears stared at her mother teaching the bearded uncle how to use a weapon.

She listened with a frown to the continuous gunshots and asked interrupting the pair.

“Mom do you think the people outside are from the military?”

“I... I don’t know sweetie, but maybe, maybe somehow they managed to restore order and...”

Jack switched off the safety as Sylvie explained to him and shook his head while staring at Gina.

“Gina, ma’am, umm I don’t want to be pessimistic but I doubt it, the government and military have already collapsed...”

“Especially after weapons of mass destruction, tanks, warplanes all became nothing more than metal scrap because of the effect of Origin Energy on technology”

He smiled awkwardly when he saw the frowning look Sylvie shot him. He sighed and said,

“The people outside are maybe... a survivor group, maybe they found firearms somewhere, that’s not important. Let’s get out of here first, even if those people have firearms they aren’t invincible especially against those damned monsters”

He walked toward the door limping slightly with the leg that had begun burning a little though the pain was not severe. He could not help but ask,

“Ma’am did you give me painkillers?”

Sylvie let out a hollow laugh and placed her hands on her hips mockingly.

“Did it finally work?, I thought it was fake otherwise you wouldn’t have screamed like a girl and made the monster notice us!”

Jack coughed awkwardly and wisely chose not to respond to the insult directed at him. He walked toward the door and began dragging the table away from it.

That increase in the strength attribute was not just a visual illusion. Jack clearly felt he had become stronger. The metal table was light as though it were made of plastic.

' Thank you system, no actually why am I thanking you, those points were the result of my own effort. I almost became food for an ugly cat, oh by the way system guess what, I actually discovered how to use my superpower. Turns out it wasn’t something useless like I thought '

Jack cut off his mental conversation with the system which probably was not even listening!.

He turned to look at the small family wearing police gear in a funny way especially the youngest member of the group who looked as though the gear was wearing him and not the opposite!.

“Wait for me here, I’ll check first whether the place is safe”